Fremantle Secures Worldwide Rights to Constantin’s Epic Fantasy Saga ‘Hagen,’ Reveals First-Look Images

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Dune: Part Two” is barreling toward another box office milestone. Director Denis Villeneuve’s science-fiction sequel has grossed $494.7 million globally, including $208 million in North America and $289.4 million internationally. It should surpass the $500 million mark by Monday, a figure that few films have reached in post-pandemic times.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has already confessed he would prefer to avoid Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in today's Champions League quarter-final draw.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Memento International has closed a raft of deals on “Fremont,” a critically acclaimed film starring Anaita Wali Zada, an Afghan refugee and first-time actor, and featuring “The Bear” actor Jeremy Allen White. Directed by BAFTA-nominated Iranian-born director Babak Jalali, the black-and-white movie tells the story of Donya, a young woman working at a Chinese fortune cookie factory in the San Francisco bay. Formerly a translator for the U.S.

Wondery and Campside Media, the company behind the successful Chameleon franchise, are expanding their relationship with an exclusive audio first-look deal for a multi-project slate. Under the pact, Wondery and Campside will produce Limited Series podcasts, including non-English language titles, to be distributed by Wondery globally, with the first being a German-language series currently in production.

Rachel Weisz and Polly Stokes are taking their slate to Fremantle.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off “The Three Musketeers,” Pathé and Dimitri Rassam’s Chapter 2 (a Mediawan company) have unveiled the teaser and poster for their next period epic, “The Count of Monte-Cristo,” starring Pierre Niney (“Yves Saint Laurent,” “Black Box”) in the title role. Based on Alexandre Dumas’ literary masterpiece, the film tells the story of a young man, Edmond Dantes, who becomes the target of a sinister plot and is arrested on his wedding day for a crime he did not commit.

Disney has revealed a first look photo at the upcoming movie Tron: Ares!

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Dwayne Johnson now officially owns title to the sobriquet “The most electrifying man in sports and entertainment.” The actor and entertainment mogul, who broke out as a star in the WWE ring two decades ago, has gained rights to a number of nicknames, insults and catchphrases from his time in the ring in the 90s and early 2000s — including “Candy Ass,” “Jabroni,” and “If you smell what The Rock is cooking.” The transfer of the intellectual-property rights to the names and phrases to Johnson came under his deal to join the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the company formed by Endeavor that merged WWE and the UFC. As announced last month, Johnson officially has the rights to his famous ring name, “The Rock.” In its 10-K filing Feb.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor On Wednesday, Fremantle revealed that it had secured worldwide distribution rights, outside of German-speaking territories, to the premium fantasy drama “Hagen” — a working title — from Constantin Film. Variety spoke to Jan Ehlert, one of the producers on the show, and Jens Richter, CEO commercial and international at Fremantle, about why they backed the ambitious production, which is budgeted at around Euros 45 million ($48.8 million) and will be produced as a six-part series and a feature film for theatrical release.

Here’s a first look at Hagen (working title), the German-Czech fantasy drama epic, which now counts Fremantle as its worldwide distributor.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Comic book author Brian Michael Bendis has set a first-look deal with Amazon is already developing three TV series under the new pact based on his previous works: “Jinx,” “Murder Inc.” and “Pearl.” “Jinx” is a crime-ridden love story unfolding on a high stakes treasure hunt, per Amazon’s series description. Our players are: Jinx Alameda, a bounty hunter at the top of her game who’s tired of her grimy life; Goldfish, a charming con man and wanted felon who falls head over heels for Jinx; and Columbia, Goldfish’s loose-cannon partner, who has big criminal dreams.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent European giant Beta Film, known for ambitious titles such as “Babylon Berlin” and “The Swarm,” has shared with Variety in exclusivity a first-look picture of 1o-part series “Rise of the Raven,” which it hails as “one of the most epic European TV productions of all time.” “Rise of the Raven” weighs in as a passion project of Hungarian-born and Canada-based producer Robert Lantos, behind “Sunshine,” “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Barney’s Version,” “Eastern Promises” and “Crimes of the Future.” A highlight at Beta Film’s showcase this Tuesday at the London TV Screenings, “Rise of the Raven” turns on the extraordinary feat of Hungarian army commander Janos Hunyadi, played by discovery Gellért L. Kádár, who in 1456 won a bloody, brutal Battle of Belgrade against a vast Ottoman force twice the size of his troops who were often farm labourers armed with just slings and patriotic fervor. Hunyadi largely halted a full Ottoman expansion in Europe for the next 70 years, allowing its Renaissance to lift off in Italy.

Alex Ritman “La Cocina,” the Rooney Mara-starring drama that recently bowed in competition at the Berlinale, has been acquired for most international territories. HanWay Films has closed sales for France (Originals Factory), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Spain (Avalon), Italy (Teodora Film), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Scandinavia (Mis.

Dune: Part Two, and critics are full of praise for Denis Villeneuve’s “epic” sci-fi sequel.Part Two concludes the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 896-page, 1965 novel, following Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he unites with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen to learn the ways of the desert, wage war on the forces that destroyed his family, and fulfil his destiny as the supposed chosen one.At present, the film holds a score of 97% from 115 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with only three negative write-ups to be found.Many have praised the sequel for its gigantic scope and ambition, including Rolling Stone‘s David Fear, who wrote: “Villeneuve has outdone himself. More importantly, he’s done justice to the scope and scale and sheer weirdness of a stoner-lit touchstone’s back half without, pun intended, sanding away its edges.”The Guardian‘s Peter Bradshaw said Dune: Part Two is “superb at showing us an entire created world, a distinct and now unmistakable universe, which will probably be much imitated: a triumph for cinematographer Greig Fraser and production designer Patrice Vermette.

Roku has released the first trailer for The Spiderwick Chronicles, ahead of the fantasy series’ April launch.

Our first look at Cate Blanchett in the Borderlands movie is finally here!

EXCLUSIVE: ITV‘s drama about Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in Britain, is gathering pace and we have an exclusive first-look image of Lucy Boynton in the title role. Scroll down to view it.

Christopher Vourlias Following on the heels of his Oscar-shortlisted “Refugee,” veteran U.S. producer Brandt Andersen (“Everest,” “Lone Survivor”) makes his feature directorial debut with “The Strangers’ Case,” a kaleidoscopic and deeply felt portrait of the refugee crisis that world premieres Feb. 23 as a Berlinale Special Gala.

Rooney Mara is hard at work promoting her new movie La Cocina at the 74th Berlinale International Film Festival on Friday (February 16) in Berlin, Germany.

Love Island's Jamie Jewitt was virtually unrecognisable this week as he revealed the results of his recent hair transplant.The 33 year old reality star showed off his brand new look on social media, as he donned a bandage and admitted his head was swollen following the procedure at the British Hair Clinic Jamie, who first shot to fame on the third season of the ITV2 show, revealed his new look with a big grin on his face, as he proudly displayed the bandages around his head in a recent Instagram snap. Captioning the post he then wrote: "All done.